Algeciras Port Prepares for Return of Morocco-Spain Summer Travel Operation

The cancellation of Operation Marhaba in 2020 and 2021 caused the port of Algeciras to lose 10 million passengers and two million vehicles, according to data from the Port Authority of the Bay of Algeciras (APBA). After the resumption of passenger maritime traffic between Morocco and Spain on April 12, the Spanish authorities have given the green light to launch the preparations for Operation Marhaba 2022, recalls ABC.

The news was enthusiastically received by the ports of Algeciras and Tarifa, which have already resumed passenger maritime links with the ports of Tanger Med and Tanger Ville. The three months of the Transit Operation (June 15 to September 15) will bring a breath of fresh air to the 13 travel agencies in the port of Algeciras. "These months save the season. Each Operation Marhaba generates around 30 million euros in profit for travel agencies," said Juan Parade, the president of the Association of Travel Agencies of the Port of Algeciras.

To read: Spanish Port of Algeciras Prepares for Return of Moroccan Diaspora Transit Operation

During the first ten days after the resumption of traffic, 26,698 people and 3,927 vehicles embarked from Algeciras and Tarifa to Tangier, and 18,380 travelers and 1,754 vehicles disembarked. Modest figures compared to the volume of travelers recorded by the two ports before the pandemic, but they should start to rise this week, after the end of the month of Ramadan.

The president of the port institution, Gerardo Landaluce, assured that everything is ready for Operation Marhaba 2022. "Everything has been gradually restored to working order," explained Landaluce, stressing that the ports of Algeciras and Tarifa "represent more than 70% of the traffic of Operation Marhaba, which is also an enormous responsibility." In 2019, 3.3 million travelers and more than 760,000 vehicles transited through the Spanish ports as part of the Operation.